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Marriage
Marriage is a custom common to most races of two genders where two people, usually a man and a woman, are legally joined together for a lifetime in a ceremony called a wedding, with the possibility of a family being produced through the marriage. Usually, in the modern world, to make a marriage binding, a couple must pledge their vows before a priest or a justice of the peace and have a marriage license be signed to make it official. There is also the "common-law marriage" where a man and a woman cohabiting with each other and having a long-term intimate relationship with each other (sometimes producing children through the relationship) are considered a married couple. Marriages in the particular time period that most of the Smurfs stories are set in were usually arranged by the parents, though as depicted in the stories themselves, the characters usually marry out of love for each other. Heterosexual marriage is considered a virtue in traditional Christianity with the intention that families may be produced and that the virtues of godliness would be instilled upon future generations. Serial marriages, consisting of having multiple successive relationships with people, are usually frowned upon if the marriages themselves do not last for more than a few years or even less. In Smurfs Media There are some characters in the Smurfs cartoon series that are married. Selwyn and Tallulah are a married human couple of sorcerers that, despite their constant bickering and fighting, still show love for each other. In the cartoon special "Smurfily Ever After", Laconia the wood elf was joined to Woody through a ceremony held by the Smurfs which Gargamel had crashed with his ghoulish calliope. Bigmouth and Bignose are a couple of ogres that at some point during the cartoon series fell in love with each other and became married. In the cartoon show special "'Tis The Season To Be Smurfy", the Smurfs bring joy to an elderly human couple Gustav and Elise at a time when Elise was sick to the point where it would have been her last Christmas. In the "non-canonical" Sony Pictures' live-action The Smurfs film series, the Smurfs visit a modern-day human couple, Patrick and Grace Winslow, who gave birth to their first child at the end of the first movie and were celebrating their son's fourth birthday in the sequel. It is possible, despite the fact that the Smurfs are mostly depicted as a single-gendered race of males with a few magically-created female Smurfs, and with reproduction of new Smurfs done through non-physical means, that marriages can also take place in their culture. However, since Smurfette loves her fellow Smurfs to the point where she couldn't decide which one of them she will ever settle down with, and since very little is revealed about the nature of Grandpa Smurf's relationship with Nanny Smurf, this can only be speculated upon. Nonetheless, in the cartoon show episode "Papa's Wedding Day", Papa Smurf found himself falling in love with Flowerbell the woodnymph, who made him feel young again, and was intending to marry her until it was revealed that she was just using him so he could be captured by Lord Balthazar in exchange for her freedom. Empath: The Luckiest Smurf stories "As it was smurfed in the beginning, so shall it smurf by the decree of nature, that male and female shall be smurfed together as one so that they may be fruitful with the blessings of love and family. And may the bonds of unity never be broken until death do they smurf." : - A Smurf wedding blessing "You are my Smurf/Psychelian brother, and you are my friend." : - Empath and Polaris's standard term of endearment for each other "What's marriage to me? It's just a leash that Papa Smurf smurfs me on, but it doesn't stop me from smurfing my way with all my fellow Smurfs." : - Mirror Universe Smurfette's view of marriage In Smurf culture Due to the Smurfs being a race of two genders in the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series, marriages are part of their culture, though the last known case of any Smurfs marrying prior to the present time in the series was when Papa Smurf's fellow Smurfs had all married and became parents of Empath's generation of Smurfs. Although Smurfs are generally considered physically developed and capable of reproducing at 100 years of age, which is when they become adults, societal norms suggest that they must be at least 150 years old to marry and have children, and all unions of that sort must be male and female, as any same-sex unions in their culture are not recognized as marriages if indeed there are any. Weddings in Smurf culture are conducted in a similar manner to human weddings, with a Smurf assigned as the designated minister who invokes the blessings of Mother Nature and Father Time upon the union. Brides are accompanied by a maid of honor, bridesmaids, and a flower girl, while grooms are accompanied by a best man, ushers, and a ring bearer. Brides are given a bridal shower of gifts while grooms are given a bachelor party to celebrate the end of their innocence. On the day of the wedding, the bride wears the same colored hat as her husband to indicate who she belongs to, as maiden Smurfs generally wear white hats until the wedding. Usually marriages are consummated through the intimate private ritual of "getting under one's hat" during the honeymoon. One known recent marriage among the Smurfs is that of Empath Smurf and Smurfette, which took place about 10 years after Empath's final return from Psychelia. The product of that marriage was a daughter named Psycheliana Smurfette, who was born about five years after the wedding. The other is that of Papa Smurf marrying Flowerbell the woodnymph in order to rescue her from being married to Avarice the imp, though the relationship was short-lived, as immediately after the wedding, the couple ended up going their separate ways. It is assumed that the rest of Empath's generation had found mates and married in the years following Psycheliana's birth. Though two adult Smurfs of opposite sexes of any age can consent to a marriage, societal norms suggest that only Smurfs of the same physical age can marry. As in mainstream Smurfs media, Papa Smurf has attempted to express a desire to marry Smurfette, but even as that desire was perverted by his exposure to "pheromone cologne" which mutated him and amplified his desire, Smurfette never reciprocated in kind, saying that she could only love Papa Smurf as a father and nothing more. In an alternate timeline explored by Traveler Smurf, however, Smurfette fell in love with and married Papa Smurf, much to the disgust and consternation of her fellow Smurfs. The act of Papa Smurf having a daughter through Smurfette drove much of the village into a rebellion led by Empath that drove the new family as well as Polaris Psyche out of the village. Tapper, who believes that the Almighty was the creator of marriages by uniting the first man and the first woman together upon their creation, prays for his fellow Smurfs' marriages to be "bound with threefold cords that cannot quickly be broken", referencing Ecclesiastes 4:12 from the Holy Bible which reads, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.". In Psychelian culture In Psychelia, since any form of physical intimacy is considered taboo, Psyches of the same gender are paired together in a bonding ritual that would make them lifelong partners, allowing them to enter into a "dream space" through a dream sharing technique. The bonding ritual basically consists of Psyches removing the gloves of their bodysuits and touching the palms of each other's hands while emitting a pulse of telepathic energy through them, which at that point they both know who their partner is. It is through Empath bonding with his fellow Psyche Polaris that his partner learned that Empath was a Smurf and helped him control his emerging behaviors while still living in Psychelia. While Psychelian culture may consider Empath's pairing with Polaris a technical form of marriage, Empath's and Polaris' feelings for each other are more closer to being brothers as neither of them feel any sort of attraction toward each other. Tapper, although devout in the belief that homosexuality is unnatural, likens Empath's and Polaris' relationship with each other to being like that of David and Jonathan from the Holy Bible, of which David said upon his partner's passing that his love for him surpassed that of "the love of women". In the alternate timeline explored by Traveler and Empath in "Hefty, The Luckiest Smurf", where Empath was forced to return to Psychelia, he suffered a condition of a constant hormonal spike that required him to physically mate with someone. To resolve this situation, the Psyche Master commanded Cassiopeia, a female Psyche, to be Empath's mate in order to quell his desires. In other cultures Marriage is more common among races consisting of two genders than it is among those of a single gender. Among humans, King Gerard and Princess Guinevere became married and had a child named Jared. Wartmonger society does not think very highly on marriage, as the males and females of their society are segregated from each other and rarely interact unless it is to engage in prostitution, or in the worst cases, sexual abuse. Nevertheless, marriage does exist if males and females truly love each other and do not care about the consequences of their cohabitation in Wartmonger society. Ogres generally have common-law marriages, but Bigmouth and Bignose, both seeking to have a legal marriage so that they could have a baby together, sought the help of Papa Smurf to be their minister when they were unable to find a human priest that could do the honors without the ogres becoming a part of their congregation. In the Mirror Universe, while Papa Smurf and Smurfette are both married to each other, Smurfette tends to be very unfaithful to her marriage and polyamorous in her relationships with her fellow Smurfs. Papa Smurf disapproves of this behavior with Smurfette, but allows it only on the grounds that his little Smurfs know that she is his wife first and foremost. LD Stories/Expanded AU In The Light and Dark Series, which crosses over with the Expanded Animated Universe, marriage is a subject brought up by various species. Humans Humans are a two-gendered race and marriage is a part of their culture and highly revered in the Middle Ages. Several members of royalty fall in love and get married in the series (which will be revealed later). Smurfs In the Smurf Village, marriage has been on the minds of adult Smurfs even before Smurfette's introduction, but has become more prominently sought after as a result of her presence. She is frequently asked by her fellow Smurfs to be their bride, but she loves them all equally (for now) and feels she is too young to marry. After Moxette's introduction, too, some Smurfs took to her as they did to Smurfette, so occasionally she receives proposal requests. However, she also feels that she is too young to marry, but she never claims to love every Smurf equally; quite frankly, she does not, but she knows better than to publicize this information. Others Likewise, other races take part in the same ritual such as Woodsprites, Gnomes, and Goblins. The first couple to marry will be revealed in a late episode of Season 11. Within the series, there are a handful of characters who get married, and a few whom are not qualified for marriage (legally in the 16th Century, at least), but are accepted as an item by others. More to come later! Hero: The Guardian Smurf In the HERO: The Guardian Smurf story series, the first known marriage among the Smurfs is that of Heroic Smurf and Wonderful Smurfette, who decided to get married after spending 5 years living together and the result of this marriage was that of their daughter Saviour Smurfette, who was born 15 years after the wedding took place. Saviour herself would be married to Oracle, the Smurf formerly known as Baby Smurf. Many years after Hero and Wonder's wedding, Hero's fellow Smurfs used the Mirror Of Opposition to get female counterparts for themselves and soon got married on a special day known as Marriage Day. Around his 500s, Hero married Smurfette sometime after his first wife had passed away. During the Year Of Death after Hero passed away, his second daughter Miracle became married to Hefty's son Brutus. Glovey Story In the Glovey Smurf story series, the main character is married to Smurfette. There is also Aasif and Aneeqa, a married Smurf couple who are followers of Islam. In the Sun, Glovey and Wild's parents Sol-El, a Sunwalker, and Charmeine, a Smurfette, appear to be married as well. Clumsy Smurf marries the Scottish female warrior Claire. Hauvon Expanded Universe Humans Marriage among humans in the HEU varies depending on the culture and social standing of the humans involved. Marriage is primarily seen as a means to legally transfer property and create offspring. It also serves the purpose of strengthening social or political bonds. Most marriages are arranged, though the parents or matchmaker may consider like interests or compatible personalities when making a decision. Even so, there is usually a monetary exchange in the form of a dowry or bride-price, which is provided by either the bride or groom's family to their new in-laws. For a commoner this may mean a new hope-chest, for a noblewoman this may mean fabulous wealth. Marriage is preceded by betrothal, which can happen months or years before the actual wedding. While some commoners may enter into a marriage for love, among the nobility marriage is part of a complex web of loyalty and inheritance. Couples are expected to grow to love each other, though this does not always happen. Infidelity is often a result, despite adultery being a punishable crime in the Middle Ages. Gay marriage as we would think of it does not exist in the current HEU setting, because of marriage's strong emphasis on procreation and religious taboos against homosexuality. That said, there are some of what we would call lavender marriages; straight marriages meant to hide the fact that one or both partners is gay or bisexual. Some marriages can be annulled as invalid under church law, though this is not the same as divorce, which is illegal. Smurfs Smurfs were originally single gender species, and see marriage as a custom of other species like woodsprites and humans. They are fascinated by the idea of marriage, though, and understand it as a ritual of professing one's eternal love and desire to start a household with one another. Seeing other creatures enter into loveless marriages for material gain, or be unable to marry one another because of some legality, is usually confusing and upsetting to them. Werewolves Werewolves who are the result of The Curse no longer reproduce sexually and typically follow mating customs of the culture they came from. They tend to avoid marriage due to their secretive and often violent lifestyles, and their tendency to outlive multiple spouses. Smurfs: The Magical Blue stories In the Smurfs: The Magical Blue ''story series, the Smurfs and Smurfettes were eventually married some time after their magically-created children were born. However, due to the fact of how they were created with magic, it prevents the Smurfettes from reproducing, thus letting the new generation reproduce instead. Gay Rights ''Related article: Sexual orientation In the Medieval Era, what would eventually be termed as "homosexuality" was never considered viable in most, if not all, human cultures. However, following the 21st Century, societies across the globe began to take note of the population that they found to be "gender queer", some of which is classified simply as defying typical rules of social roles. Up until the last several decades, society considered anything between masculine women or feminine men as improper civilians - to openly admit one was gay or lesbian meant facing severe punishment. In the modern 2000s, more action has been taken to bestow basic rights and protections to the LGBTA community, although the subject of marriage is still controversial in the United States. Regions in Europe have already legalized gay marriage, and recently the ban on such has been lifted for the entire United States, and the number will grow in time. Despite being ridiculed and cast out in the past, this part of the human population is making themselves aware and their strength is increasing gradually, mostly thanks to newer generations. It is expected that in the next thirty to forty years, they will be equal to the heterosexual community. While the opinions on this matter are not generally shared by everyone, it is left mostly to the discretion of the fanfiction writer whether to include such unions in their fanfiction story series. Empath: The Luckiest Smurf stories In the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series, same-sex marriage among Smurfs was made legal in the 1700s. However, as Tapper's son Nehemiah had feared, this brought on the destruction of the Smurf Village through an earthquake, which he deemed as a judgment of God, and caused the surviving Smurfs to disperse into the world to find a new place to live. The Light and Dark Series Numbuh 404 is proud to include homosexual and bisexual characters within her series since, in real life, she has multiple good friends of non-heterosexual orientation. Hero: The Guardian Smurf stories During the brief time that the Grey Smurfs existed, its counterparts of Hero, Smurfette, and Wonder were shown to be in a three-way marriage relationship with each other -- a relationship that the original version of Abloec condemned as sinful, but the Grey Smurf Abloec had considered worthy of blessing. Aeon of the Champion story series Smurf Manian reserves the right to include characters of non-heterosexual orientation in the Aeon of the Champion story series. That said, said author also reserves the right to write about said characters, and their relationships, in any way that he wishes within the limits of the rules, and '''refuses '''to guarantee that these depictions will be politically correct (they probably won't be!) External Links * Marriage on Bible Wiki, for the Christian perspective * Marriage on Wikipedia, for the general human perspective Category:Customs of other races Category:Smurf customs Category:Empath the Luckiest Smurf customs Category:Mating and bonding rituals Category:Mature topics Category:Religious rituals Category:Open to Community Category:Hero the Guardian Smurf customs Category:Religious beliefs Category:Smurfs: The Magical Blue customs Category:Christian doctrines